Rolf Martin Schmitz, the CEO of German energy firm RWE, was on Friday named “Dinosaur of the Year 2018” after he insisted on the clearance of a large chunk of the Hambach Forest to increase open-pit coal mining activities.
German nature conservation group NABU awarded the satirical prize to Schmitz, who they said had placed himself beyond the pale with his “outmoded demonstration of power” in an ongoing dispute over the planned clearance of the forest, which lies west of Cologne.
NABU President Olaf Tschimpke said that the RWE chief was an “industry dinosaur” who must recognize the signs of the times.
Read more: Germany’s last deep pit Prosper-Haniel closes
26:04 mins.
“While international climate conferences and the national coal commission are struggling for concrete climate protection, Mr. Schmitz has found himself offside in the dispute over the deforestation of the Hambach forest,” Tschimpke said.
Accused of ‘foul play’
The RWE executive board’s intense activity in favor of clearance is an example of “foul play,” the environmental group’s head added.
“After all, RWE also knows that there is no way around the exit from coal if Germany wants to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.”
Hambach has been the center of years-long protests by environmental campaigners over plans to clear around half of the remaining woodland to expand the nearby open-pit mine, operated by RWE.
Read more: New attack against coal plans at Germany’s Hambach Forest
Green groups say 90 percent of the forest has already been cleared and Germany remains too reliant on coal for electricity generation, despite promises to phase out the worst polluting fossil fuels.
In September and October, police faced off against protesters as they attempted to clear a makeshift camp set up in defiance of the company’s plans.
Environmental activists dug their heels in when police launched a large-scale operation to clear their makeshift camp
The deforestation process was halted temporarily in November by a court ruling to assess the impact of the clearance on a protected species of bat.
Several ‘dinosaur’ candidates
Tschimpke said the judges had a tough time deciding this year’s winner, especially as the ongoing Dieselgate scandal continues to tarnish the reputation of Germany’s automakers, and the country grabbles with bans on diesel vehicles as part of the transition to cleaner energy.
Read more: German cities urged to ban polluting fireworks at New Year
The booby prize, which has been won twice before an RWE boss, has been awarded by NABU every since 1993 to personalities who, in the view of the association, have stood out for their regressive public commitment to nature and environmental protection.
03:12 mins.
In 2010, former RWE CEO Jürgen Grossmann received the award for his commitment to extending the life of Germany’s nuclear power plants. In 2006, his predecessor, Harry Roels, was named “Dinosaur of the Year” after lobbying for an extension to the operating life of the aged Biblis A nuclear reactor in central Germany.
Last year, farming union president Joachim Rukwied won the title for denying the responsibility of agriculture for species extinction.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
The last shift
This will be a melancholy and nostalgic Christmas for the people of Bottrop, especially for the last coal miners and their families. Three days before Christmas Eve, the Prosper-Haniel coal mine, the last black coal mine in Germany, is set to close. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will get the last piece of “black gold” to be brought up and see the light of day.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
Black gold
The coal was initially stored outside for days, like here with the Prosper-Haniel tower in the background. Then it was usually taken by train to the nearest port where it was loaded onto barges or ships to be brought to consumers; a large portion of it was shipped overseas. German hard coal was in demand worldwide for its quality, as long as the price was right.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
Holding together proudly
The work in the coal mine was not only well paid, the miners were also held in high esteem. Their dirty, exhausting and dangerous work welded the miners together. To this day, they all call each other mate (“kumpel”). Their solidarity and camaraderie are a reason for professional pride as can be seen here in this photo taken in Bottrop’s Prosper-Haniel mine.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
Working and living
The miner operators set up housing for the miners in the immediate vicinity of the pits. In the garden they often kept chickens and pigs, and there was even room for a pigeon coop. Meanwhile, these houses have become very popular. If both halves of a house are combined, it offers plenty of space and a garden in the city is no small luxury.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
Mates from Anatolia
After World War II, many so-called guest workers from southern Europe and Turkey came to work in the mines alongside colleagues from Silesia and Masuria, both in today’s Poland. Most of them came and stayed; first names like Mehmet and Mustafa can still be heard in the Ruhr area on every corner.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
The first cracks
The 1950s and 60s were the highpoint of the Ruhr mining industry. And yet, whoever wanted to could already see the first cracks in the mining business model. The coal, which was initially near the Earth’s surface, soon had to be dug out deeper and deeper — up to 1,500 meters underground. That was very expensive and German coal became less and less competitive internationally.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
Bad for the environment
For decades the Ruhr area was notorious for its bad air. Especially the coking plants made sure that the freshly laundered laundry was dry, but still very dirty when hung out on the line. The image here depicts a skyline of coal, smokestacks and smoke in Oberhausen not far from Bottrop. Today nobody in the area misses these dirty consequences of the coal business.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
Unstable ground
Even after coal mining is discontinued, it will continue to play an important role in the lives of the people of Ruhr Valley. Because time and again the earth opens up and houses, roads or railway lines are badly damaged by the notoriously unstable ground. These cave-ins happen when cavities collapse under the ground — that’s because in place of coal that used to exist before there’s now just air.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
The work is never done
In the last 150 years, the Ruhr area has sunk in places by up to 25 meters (82 feet). If the mines were left to their own devices, the groundwater would rise again, transforming the area into a huge lake. So the water has to be pumped out — continuously. That is why the Ruhr is now called an “eternal burden” for the more than five million people who live there.
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The end of black coal mining in Germany
What will remain?
We’ll see how long the miners stay put and keep up their camaraderie. The omnipresent mining towers have now been demolished for the most part. Huge areas of the former complexes have been greened. Many former industrial monuments — and there are plenty of them — have been transformed into amusement parks, the best example being the Zollverein in Essen, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Author: Dirk Kaufmann (tr)
mm/rt (AFP, DPA, EPD)
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